Nigerian Student To Serve 19 Years In Prison For Internet Scam

Lawal Adekunle Nurundeen, a Nigerian undergraduate student, has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for obtaining $47,000 from an Australian woman by convincing her over the Internet that he was a 57-year-old white male who was deeply in love with her.

Nurundeen met his victim on the Internet in 2007 and convinced her that he was a British widower named Benson Lawson. He further convinced her that he was an engineer working in Lagos and that his wife and only child had been killed in a car accident.

According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the victim told the convict that she wanted a husband and that all the men that she had met always disappointed her. The woman then sent Nurudeen money for travel costs and medical treatment after he assured her that she had met her match.

Nurundeen , who is married with three children, spent the funds on two plots of land and a Honda Prelude car. Nigerian scam artists have a long history of extorting money via the Internet trough “419” scams, named after the clause that outlaws them in Nigeria’s penal code. Many of these scam artists are never caught.

The EFCC said that Nurundeen was ordered to pay around $10,000 immediately and a further $250 a month to his victim until the full amount stolen was returned. She will also receive the proceeds of the sale of his land and his car.

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